2019 -- H 5928

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LC002283

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF 1ST LIEUTENANT JOHN D.

CROUCHLEY, JR., WHILE IN HEROIC SERVICE ON BEHALF OF OUR NATION IN

WORLD WAR II

     Introduced By: Representatives Azzinaro, Vella-Wilkinson, Price, Casey, and Solomon

     Date Introduced: March 28, 2019

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, First Lieutenant John D. “Dud” Crouchley, Jr., of the United States Army

Air Force, was born in Providence, on September 4, 1917, the oldest of five brothers, all of whom

served our nation in World War II. He graduated from Hope High School and Rhode Island

College in 1939, where he learned to fly and obtained his civilian pilots license. He enlisted in the

United States Army shortly after Pearl Harbor, and was married to Jean Barber on July 12, 1943.

In 1944, while Lieutenant Crouchley was serving our nation in combat, his wife had their child, a

son named John Dudley Crouchley III; and

     WHEREAS, Lieutenant Crouchley, was the pilot of a B-24 bomber plane serving in the

485th Bombardment Group of the 15th Air Force. On June 28, 1944, he and his crew took off

with their bomb group on an extremely dangerous mission to bomb the German Titan Oil

Refineries in Bucharest, Romania. The attack formation faced heavy resistance and had to fight

off 50 enemy fighter planes and thick artillery flak. Despite facing these severe dangers, the

bomber formation hit their target; and

     WHEREAS, Unfortunately, Lieutenant Crouchley’s plane was hit hard by enemy

fighters, resulting in two of the plane’s engines being severely damaged by fires. He immediately

summoned all of his extraordinary piloting skill, and a whole lot of courage, and took the plane

into a 30-40 degree dive to try to put out the fires, which was successful. However, the plane kept

losing altitude and was still under enemy fighter attack. Lieutenant Crouchley turned his severely

damaged plane away from the enemy fighters and his bomber formation and was able to keep the

plane in the air for another hour, while the gunners in his crew kept the enemy fighter planes at

bay; and

     WHEREAS, Tragically, the crippled plane began to lose altitude and Lieutenant

Crouchley knew time was up and he had to get his crew safely out of the plane. Using all of his

strength and skill, he held the plane steady to allow his crew to bail out safely. Nine members of

the crew survived, ending up in a POW camp, but Lieutenant Crouchley, who bailed out last,

sadly perished. He had given his life in order to save his crew; and

     WHEREAS, The plane crashed into a mountain in Romania, but over the years, there was

confusion and unanswered questions regarding Lieutenant Crouchley’s remains. Finally, Dan

Crouchley, the nephew of Lieutenant Crouchley, began looking into his family’s history. He

tracked down some of the crew members and their descendants along with historian Jerry

Whiting and Bulgarian Colonel Stanimir Stanev. Thanks to this group’s persistence, a United

States Army Military Recovery Team investigated and excavated the crash site in 2017. After

many months of difficult work and numerous DNA tests, the Army team confirmed Lieutenant

Crouchley’s remains and also discovered his wedding band. After 75 years, an American hero

was finally coming home to his family and a grateful nation; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby expresses its deepest condolences on the passing of Lieutenant

John D. Crouchley, Jr., and posthumously thanks him for his heroic service to our nation during

World War II; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Autumn Williams, John D. Crouchley IV, and

Dan Crouchley.

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